Aaron's Muse
by adsh
Summary: When Jim and Blair investigate a serial murder case the clues lead them to a suspect who was involved in murder thirty years before---as the victim!
1. Default Chapter

Summary: A serial killer case strikes close to home for the Cascade PD. Investigating an attack on one of their own, leads Jim and Blair to a suspect who was involved in a murder thirty years before...as the victim.  
  
A/N: This is VERY AU...it's a Cross-over with "Forever Knight" and the (R)ole (P)laying (G)ame "Vampire, the Masquerade". The vampire characters of Brandon, Aaron, Cassie and Heinrich are original characters created by players in the RPG I play in. Nick Knight is from the show "Forever Knight". You don't really need to be familiar with the game to understand the story, but you do have to be familiar with "Forever Knight" and the vampire genre in general to understand some of the references. I've provided some definitions from the RPG at the end of the story (chapter 12). For anyone who *might* be familiar with the White Wolf system, YES, I 'bent' some rules a little to fit into my story parameters...it's called 'creative license'! Alyssa and Loden are from the module--Chicago by Night.  
  
**This story has an "R" rating for very strong language and violence--you have been warned!!  
  
**Usual disclaimers apply!!! Don't own the Sentinel, Forever Knight or the RPG!!!  
  
AARON'S MUSE  
A. Hornsby  
  
MONDAY 11:30am  
  
SIMON BANK'S OFFICE  
  
"So far, the *only* thing that connects the two victim's together, in any way, is the club over on Eighth Street...called the *Underground*. Now the first victim, Andy Chapman, got a job about a month ago as lead guitarist in the band that is currently playing there, called...'Aaron's Muse'. The lead singer is a Cassandra LaFay. Seems to be her band." Detective James Ellison reported to his Captain, as he tossed out a few black and white publicity photos of a pale young woman.  
  
"Has the first victim, Chapman, remembered anything about his abductor, why or where he was taken, or how he escaped?" Captain Bank's asked, reaching for the photo's.  
  
"Nothing. He could only remember being approached at closing time by a shadowy figure, being engulfed in this overwhelming feeling of euphoria and pain, then coming to in the hospital, with no visible wounds, but with *very serious* blood loss and absolutely no memories of the four days he was missing. He was found last week, near sun up, wandering aimlessly in the park." Jim answered grimly.  
  
"So all we have to go on is these men's taste in music?" Simon commented, looking over the photos. The young woman appeared to be in her late twenties, with wild hair and full lips, and dark, piercing eyes that seemed to bore into your soul. "What do we have on this singer, 'Aaron's Muse'...?"  
  
Sitting quietly up to this point, Sandburg piped in enthusiastically. "She was the lead singer in an alternative rock band called 'Serenade', they had quite a few hits and even a few albums but never toured much. Stayed pretty much in the Chicago area, in a bar called The Torch. About 2 years ago, they all suddenly dropped out of sight, *completely*. Not even their manager could be found. Cassie...uh, 'Aaron's Muse' now, resurfaced about a year ago, alone, playing in small clubs up and down the West Coast........"  
  
Simon arched an eyebrow at Sandburg's breathless monologue. "And you would know all this because..."  
  
"I have *all* her albums and even saw her and her band once when I was in Chicago."  
  
"Now since we didn't have any leads with the victim's themselves and the club owner checks out I played a hunch and spent the morning cross checking Ms. LaFays' tour schedule with missing persons reports and murders while she was in each city." Jim said, taking back control of the conversation from his excitable partner. "Seems that trouble follows this young lady everywhere she goes. All in all, over the last ten months, and including our two victims, seven young men have disappeared and reappeared under similar mysterious circumstances and five others, almost six, if you count the incident this weekend, have been found murdered. In *all* thirteen instances the victims had either been band members or were seen at the club where the band played. I've requested copies of the investigator's reports...should be getting replies late this afternoon or tomorrow."  
  
"Could this be an jealous ex-band member trying to thwart her comeback for being left out of the loop?" Simon suggested. "Or even some over zealous fan trying to get her attention?"  
  
"It's one hell of a way to get attention; killing and kidnapping people." Jim said, shaking his head.  
  
"I agree with Jim, I mean, these people may not your normal mainstream music fans; now if we were investigating suicides, yeah, maybe, but murder........kidnapping, I don't buy it." Blair explained while pacing around the room. "And as far as a comeback goes, she doesn't appear to be actively seeking one. She *only* plays small clubs. It's been rumored that she's turned down touring offers and a few record deals. She won't sing anything *but* the songs from her old band. That doesn't seem like someone who is interested in a solo career. The band members themselves would share equally in album royalties, and all the members had big enough fan followings to go solo."  
  
"Where *do* you get this stuff Sandburg?" Simon sighed.  
  
"Internet. *Everything* is on the Internet." Blair grinned. "As a matter of fact I pulled this up and copied it. It's a picture of her original band."  
  
Simon took the offered photo and gave it a quick look before passing it to Jim, who studied the picture intently for a moment, before grabbing up both victim files. "We may just have found a connection between our victims and this singer."  
  
Jim laid out the pictures of the two victims on the table and put the picture of the band beside them. "Look at victim one, Chapman." he said, pointing to a picture of a curly haired, red head. "Now look at this band member."  
  
"Quite a similarity there." Simon mused.  
  
"That band member is Aaron, he was the primary songwriter for the band. He called Cassie his 'muse' and wouldn't write for anyone but her and would become *very upset* if she sang any song he didn't write." Blair explained.  
  
"Now she calls herself 'Aaron's Muse'—maybe *they* had a falling out. Maybe *he's* the one stalking her? Maybe he's got new material for her to try out?"  
  
"But that wouldn't make sense, captain." Blair countered. "Why would she call herself '*Aaron's* Muse' if she wasn't willing to sing his new stuff, too?"  
  
"And that might be an explanation if all the victims bore a similarity only to Aaron; but, look at this band member, who does he remind you of?" interrupted Jim grimly, pointing to a young, dark-haired, clean shaven man holding a guitar.  
  
Simon looked at the picture then at Jim, eyebrows raised. "Damn."  
  
"*That* was Cassie's boyfriend, Brandon." Blair supplied.  
  
"Was there ever any 'tension' between the boyfriend and the songwriter for her attentions?" Simon asked, peering over at Sandburg.  
  
"Haven't seen anything on any of the fan sites to indicate that there was, but I can check around some more." Blair answered.  
  
"We need to get pictures of the other eleven victims and cross check them with this band picture..." Jim started.  
  
"Jim, that is an awfully thin lead. Kidnapping, killing...because they 'look like' band members," Simon interrupted.  
  
"It's all we've got, Simon, we are at a dead end here," Jim shot back. "I've come up with nothing on this one so far."  
  
"Has this singer ever been questioned in any of this?" Simon asked.  
  
"Several times and only briefly. She never stays in town long enough for a thorough investigation and there has never been any real evidence to link her to anything." Jim explained, scanning the report in his hand. "We're having some difficultly in tracking her down for questioning. We tried at the club this morning but it was locked up tight so we'll try again this evening."  
  
A knock at the door halted their conversation. Rhonda popped her head in. "Simon, Henri called. Brian is conscious now."  
  
"Thank god. How is he?" Simon asked.  
  
"Henri said he's a bit dazed and very confused, but the doctor said he should make a full recovery." Rhonda reported.  
  
"Lets get over there and talk to him. Maybe he can give us something."" Simon directed, grabbing for his coat.  
  
Jim nodded, turning to gather up the pictures scattered across the conference table. His features grim, as he placed the latest victims picture—one, Detective Brian Rafe—on the top of the stack before closing the file.  
  
TBA 


	2. the investigation begins

***************************  
  
Aaron's Muse  
  
Chapter 2  
  
All warnings and disclaimers appear in chapter 1. Rated R for language/violence.  
  
CASCADE GENERAL HOSPITAL  
  
MONDAY AFTERNOON  
  
When Simon, Jim and Blair came into the room they saw a very pale, tired looking Brian Rafe sitting propped up in his hospital bed, tiredly watching his partner hover around him like a 'mother hen'.  
  
"How are you feeling Brian?" Coming up to Brian's bedside, and taking note of the young detectives pale complexion and sunken eyes, Simon asked with concern.  
  
"Like I haven't slept for a week. I feel absolutely exhausted..." Brian answered weakly.  
  
"Not surprising man." Blair commented to no one in particular.  
  
"What happened?" Brian asked, eyeing his colleague's tiredly.  
  
"That's what we were hoping you could tell us. What's the last thing you remember?" Jim asked as he came to stand at the foot of the bed, dialing up his senses to catalogue his friend's health.  
  
The young detective frowned, drawing in a deep breath. "Everything is really hazy. I'm not sure if I'm remembering, dreaming or hallucinating..."  
  
"Just take it slow, partner," Henri encouraged, resting a hand on his partner's shoulder. "Just tell us everything you can remember."  
  
"Do you remember going to the Underground Club?" Simon asked.  
  
"Is that the club over on Eighth?" Brian questioned.  
  
"Yea. It's an alternative rock bar." Blair explained, adding. "You don't strike me as the 'alternative rock' kind of guy..."  
  
Brian chuckled weakly. "I'm not. Got a call from an old friend of mine from back east. He was passing through on business. *He's* a fan of that music and heard about some singer he liked that was going to be there, asked me to tag along so we could catch up on old times."  
  
"So you did go to the club?" Jim prodded.  
  
"Yeah. Definitely *not* my kind of music." Brain chuckled again. "Chuck and I visited for a few hours then he had to take off on a red eye to San Diego—we left the club about half an hour after the bands last set. Must have been around two fifteen or so "  
  
"Then what?"  
  
"That's where it gets real hazy. I remember putting Chuck in a cab to the airport and heading over to the next block to my car..." the young man's brow furrowed in concentration, his voice becoming a strained whisper as he struggled to remember. "I heard...I heard this...voice. It was...mesmerizing. I saw this shadow...it was coming towards me. I felt, I don't know... overwhelmed, terrified. I was fixed in that spot. I...I couldn't move........couldn't call out........"  
  
"Whoa, Brian. Calm down, man." Henri comforted, sitting down on the edge of the bed and putting an arm around the panicked man's shoulders. "You're safe now. I'm here. We're all here, Brian."  
  
Brian, however, was becoming more agitated as he became lost in his memories, his breath coming in pained gasps. "Darkness........stifling blackness and........and the, and the pain........gods, the pain........couldn't, couldn't get........get away........tried........couldn't get away."  
  
The young man turned and buried his face in his partner's chest, reaching one arm up to wrap around Henri's shoulder. Henri wrapped his arms around his terrified partner, trying to comfort him, while also exchanging worried looks with the other three men in the room. One did not become a police officer and certainly not a member of major crimes by being squeamish or easily spooked. Brian's state of panic and agitation had all of them extremely concerned.  
  
After a few tense moments Brian took a ragged breath and looked up into the worried faces of his friends, his voice tense and low. "Sorry...sorry, I lost it like that. But this feeling........it's like being a child and waking from a nightmare that won't fade...but I can feel it, it still seems so real."  
  
"After what you've been through I think you're entitled to lose it a little bit." Henri comforted.  
  
Brian fell tiredly back into his pillows, looking up with sunken eyes to meet his partner's gaze. "Just what exactly have I been through?"  
  
"You were... attacked...'after' you left the club. Do you know who it was, did you see them clearly to give us a description?" Simon prodded gently.  
  
"Attacked? I...uh...I don't remember..." Brain said in surprise before trailing off.  
  
"Damn, it was to close partner. Lucky for you some other patrons left the bar the same time you and Chuck did, scared off whoever it was before they had a chance to...anyway, we barely got you to the hospital...if it wasn't for the transfusions........" Henri rambled, the memories of his partner hovering near death, causing him his own kind of agitation.  
  
"Transfusions? Blood transfusions?" Brian interrupted, picking up on his partner's agitated state. "What in the hell happened to me?"  
  
"It's really weird, man, but you were...well, you were missing almost all your blood!" Blair answered the distraught man.  
  
"Missing my blood? Are you saying I nearly bled to death? Was I shot?" Brain asked in confusion. "You said attacked, was I mugged?"  
  
"That's another part of the mystery, it wasn't a mugging...you still had your cash, credit cards, your car keys. Also, the Doctors found *no* wounds. Nothing to account for the blood loss." Jim explained. "Just like the other victims."  
  
"Other victims? There have been others?" Brian said in surprise.  
  
"There was all ready a kidnapping associated with the club you were at Saturday...or more exactly the band that's currently playing there. The lead guitarist disappeared for four days and reappeared in near the same condition as you were brought in. A back ground check came up with six other kidnappings and five murders that happen to coincide exactly with the bands tour dates in other cities; all equally mysterious for there lack of clues." Jim briefly filled in Henri and Brian.  
  
"Have the other victims been able to give any clues?" Brian asked.  
  
"I've only got brief reports from the other PD's so far. Hopefully there will be more detail in the reports that are being faxed to us. We were really hoping you would be able to fill in the details," Jim said hopefully.  
  
Brian closed his eyes tightly, his brow furrowed in deep concentration. A moment later he let out a long, frustrated sigh, slamming his fists down on either side of his bed. "I can't remember anything. Why can't I remember anything? The person in the alley was nothing more than a shadow. I *can't even* tell you if it was a man or a woman."  
  
"It's all right Brian. You're still recovering. You damn near died out there!"  
  
"I'm a cop, dammit. I'm supposed to be trained for this sort of thing, not lay here like some helpless victim..." the young detective raged weakly.  
  
"There might be a way," Blair interjected quietly.  
  
"How? I'll try anything." Brian said hopefully.  
  
Blair came to stand by Brian's bed, holding his friend's gaze. "I want to warn you, it most likely won't be pleasant."  
  
"What's not pleasant is not knowing what the hell happened to me!" Brian ground out. "So whatever it is I'm willing to do it."  
  
"I could put you in a light meditative state, almost like a trance. We could take you back and see if we can break through the haze..." Blair explained.  
  
"Let's do it," Brian interrupted.  
  
"I think we should wait until you've gotten some of your strength back." Henri stated.  
  
"And give this perp a chance to strike again. Do *this* to someone else. *I don't think so*. You said it yourself; I almost didn't make it. The next victim might not be so lucky; hell, five guys *didn't* make it!" Brian said pointedly, his gaze going from his worried partner to his captain. "Please, Captain, I *need* to do this."  
  
Simon sighed heavily then nodded. "Let me talk to your doctor Brian. If *he* thinks you're up to it *then* we'll consider giving it a try."  
  
"Thanks Captain." Brian said quietly.  
  
TBA 


End file.
